Construction of a bioluminescence reporter plasmid for Francisella tularensis

A Francisella tularensis shuttle vector that constitutively expresses the Photorhabdus luminescens lux operon in type A and type B strains of F. tularensis was constructed. The bioluminescence reporter plasmid was introduced into the live vaccine strain of F. tularensis and used to follow F. tularensis growth in a murine intranasal challenge model in real-time by bioluminescence imaging. The results show that the new bioluminescence reporter plasmid represents a useful tool for tularemia research that is suitable for following F. tularensis growth in both in vitro and in vivo model systems.